A Summer Spent Line Dancing
by f4me
Summary: When Madge Undersee leaves the big city for a small town to work at Hawthorne Ranch, she doesn't expect to feel as welcome and happy that she does, especially with a certain boy. Will she be able to crack his hard shell and show him how to have fun? Follow Madge and her adventures with horses, mud pits, and late nights at the river. AU. MadgexGale, PeetaxKatniss, and more.


I recite the mental list in my head for the hundredth time today.

_Bags... check_

_Clothes... check_

_Ticket... check_

_Money... check_

_Cell Phone... check_

I take a look around the now empty apartment and let out a long breath. This is the last time I will see this apartment. I drop my suitcases and dig around my bag until I find the black sharpie I take everywhere I go. Walking towards the front door, I crouch down so I am sitting on the worn carpet. In my neatest handwriting, I write 'Madge Undersee 2012' on the door frame. Now there will be a part of me still here in this small apartment I called home for the past three years. Sighing, I make my way back to my bags, throw them over my shoulders, and exit the room. I lock the door and leave the keys under the mat for the landlord. Descending the steps to the taxi at the curb, I let myself get lost in the memories and let them all go. Today is the day to start new memories. I slide into the taxi," JFK airport please," I say to the cab driver.

-_Four hours later in an airport in Alabama-_

I descend the runway leading out of the airplane and enter the new airport in Alabama. I roll my large bags off of Baggage Claim and find the man with a sign reading Undersee.

"Hi, I'm Madge Undersee," I say. The man smiles warmly back and I can already tell that he's friendly.

"Howdy dear, my name is Ray Mellark, and I'll be driving you to Hawthorne Ranch. Let me take your bags from here. We are extremely grateful that you came on such short notice."

"Oh, I am more than happy to help. I wasn't doing much back in New York."

"Well, you'll be plenty busy here. We got a lotta people that I'm sure will be more than happy to have another friend. I picked up the car that you sent over last week, but I can drive you if you'd like. I brought my son with me so you two can sit in the back."

"Thank you, but I think I would like to drive. I haven't driven my baby in a while," I say.

"Of course," he says, clearly fine with the fact that he'll be sitting in the back.

"Well, we better get goin' now. I can tell you all about the ranch and the people. The drive isn't too long, so we should be just fine," I nod and check my watch. It reads 10:17 P.M., and I am definitely ready for bed. I follow Ray out into the parking lot and smile when I see my car. The blue '67 Ford Pick Up is looking better than ever and I can't wait to sit behind the wheel again.

"She's a beauty, that one. I was surprised that a little lady like you from the city would be driving a truck," he says, eyebrows raised.

I slide into the driver seat and turn the ignition. She wakes up and I roll all of the windows down to let in the cool breeze.

"Well howdy," I hear from the backseat. I turn around and see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed man that is most likely my age. He looks just like his father and gives me a feeling that I can trust him.

"Hi, I'm Madge Undersee," I say, stretching my hand to his. He shakes it and gives me a warm smile.

"Welcome to Alabama, Miss Undersee."

The ride to the ranch is filled with talk about Hawthorne Ranch. So far, I've learned that it is one of the biggest ranches in Alabama and has the most horses. Three different families live on the ranch, but there are many more people helping that stay in bunks. Almost all of the help is my age or a few years older. I will be staying in the bunks with two other girls named Johanna and Annie. There are a lot of jobs for me from feeding the horses and baby animals in the morning, helping cook, and other housekeeping-type things. Everything about the ranch is from Ray, while everything about the people is from the blonde boy whose name is Peeta. He tells me about Johanna and how she is very direct and harsh, but she is also one of the most caring, honest people; Annie and how she is the sweetest thing in Alabama; Katniss, the selfless, quiet one (I can tell Peeta has feelings for her by the look in his eyes when he says her name); Prim and Rory, the lovebirds; Thom, the funny one that has loved Johanna for years; Finnick, the flirt that Annie has wrapped around her finger; and lastly, Gale, who is extremely sour until you crack his shell, then he can be one of the coolest guys around. I try to take in all of the information and memorize everything before I get there, but right when he stops we pull up to a huge gate that says 'HAWTHORNE' with horse shoe designs spreading across the rusting metal. Ray and Peeta hop out to open the gate and I slowly drive in.

From here, I can see a winding dirt path that leads up to a huge white house that is lit up with lights. There is a field to the right with cows and horses until I can't see any further and stables and barns to the left. Once the boys get back in, we cross the bumpy road and pull up to the house. Before I have a chance to get out of the car, people start pouring out of the house with bright smiles on their faces.

"You must be Madge!" A woman with long brown hair says as she pulls me into a hug. "I'm Hazelle Hawthorne, owner of Hawthorne Ranch. It is such a pleasure to have you here."

I stand quietly and smile at the rest of the crowd. Peeta introduces me to a Annie, a slim, dark haired girl; Johanna, a girl with short hair and huge green eyes; Katniss, an olive-skinned girl with a long braid down her back; Thom; a tall, lanky boy; Finnick, a muscular, tan, and toned boy that screams 'flirt'; and lastly, Gale, a giant boy with brown hair, unruly eyebrows, and silver-gray eyes that are breathtaking.

"Now, now, come in the house before you freeze! The rest of them are inside. I know it's late but we gotta move you in and tell you what y'all are doin' tomorrow. I promise you that this will be a great experience for you," Hazelle smiles while walking up the steps into the white house.

"Now, this here is the main 'lodge'. We do everything from eating to gaming in here. In the back is a kitchen, then there's two bathrooms and a store over the the right. Right now it's empty, but once the guests come, there's gonna be tables set up all around. Y'all need to make sure that you clean up after the dance tonight, okay?" She points mainly to Finnick as she says this.

"Yeah, yeah I know. I won't forget like last time."

"Well, good, so Madge, dear, I'll leave you with the kids here but make sure you get to bed at a decent hour, we have a lot to do tomorrow and knowing these kids, they've got something planned that I won't like. Oh, and follow Annie to your room. Peeta'll put y'alls bags in there." Hazelle says before giving me a hug. I know that I will be happy here. And besides, it's beautiful here. The lodge is like a huge wood cabin with pictures of horses and family portraits everywhere. I already feel like I'm at home here.

"Well, princess, this is a big change from the big city. How about we show you how we have fun!" I'm pulled by Finnick down the front steps of the Lodge and out onto a patio with wood planks as a floor. The rest of the group runs out after him and gets into three lines on the floor.

"What are we doing?"

"Princess, this is what we call line dancing. Come on, you'll be fine. Everybody, partner up. Annie c'mere!" Finnick replies. He runs over to Annie's side and links arms with her before tickling her side.

"Finnick! Who said I wanted to be your partner? I was actually thinkin' about asking Rory, you know." Annie teases. Now I see what Peeta meant. This girl really does have him wrapped around her finger.

"Well, no, I want to be your partner," I can imagine that if Finnick had a tail, it would be between his legs like he was just abandonded.

"Well, fine then, I guess," Annie smiles.

I look around and see that everyone besides me has a partner; Finnick and Annie, Katniss and Peeta, Rory and Prim, Johanna and Thom.

"Princess, we're not just gonna leave ya out of this. Go get Gale," I must look like a deer-in-the-headlights because he just chuckles and runs back inside. A few seconds later, I see him pulling Gale outside.

"Now, Gale, don't be grumpy, you gotta dance with Princess."

"You know, I have a name," I retort.

"Well, yes, but when you grew up in a fancy house in the big city, you are like a princess to this ranch. Tomorrow, we're gonna have to take you into town to get some decent clothes."

"I have decent clothes!"

"Not decent like that. Let me guess, name brand jeans with cashmere sweaters?"

"Well... no... I didn't bring any _sweaters..._"

Finnick chuckles and gives me a sweet smile before saying," You're not gonna wanna jump in a mud pit with fancy clothes, Princess, and besides, you don't even have boots!"

I look down at my converse, happy that I chose to wear them and not any of my sandals or flats.

"Come _on_ you two! Let's dance," Johanna yells. Finnick runs over to the small stereo set up on top of a metal table and plays the first song.

"Gale Hawthorne! Don't just stand there!"

Gale rubs his eyes and walks over to me. He places one hand on my side and the other engulfs my own small hand. He's a foot taller than me so I end up staring at his chest while we dance.

"This one's easy. Just two steps forward, one step back. And I'm Gale. Hazelle's my ma, Rory and Vick are my brothers, and little Posy is my baby sister. If you need anythin', you supposed to ask me, so... yeah." He says.

"So what do we have planned for tomorrow?"

"Well, I guess we just show you around and maybe go for a ride to the pit. Oh, and you gotta go into town too. We don't usually go to bed until 2, so we got a good two hours here. They like to stay out here the whole time, but that's not really my thing, so you might lose your dancing partner."

"Alright. What do you do instead?"

"Someone's nosy."

"Well, sorry, I just want to know."

"Well, if you have to, I like to go to the river and play my guitar."

"You play guitar?"

"Yup."

"So do I. What else do you do?"

"I play the banjo, and sometimes I sing, but not for anyone. The only people that've heard me sing are Finn and my ma."

"Well, maybe you could sing for me. I'll do it with you. I mean, I did go to college for singing and guitar. You don't happen to have a piano, do you?"

He laughs before saying," Umm, no, sorry, no piano. We do have a few banjos though. You could ask Finn and Thom. Thom's got a great voice. Maybe you can sing with him," he says.

"Hawthorne, you got the best voice out of all of us!" Thom yells from across the patio.

"Thom, shut up. You haven't even heard me."

"Oh yes, I have. Maybe you should be a little quieter in the shower next time."

Gale's ears turn red and he ducks his head.

"Don't worry, they're just teasing," I say.

"Yeah, yeah, just wait 'til they find something about you. They'll never shut up."

"If you haven't noticed, I'm already Princess."

"That isn't even bad!"

"Well I don't have much dirt," I say. I think about everything that they could say about me and my thoughts go back to my parents. I freeze up in Gale's arms.

_Ms. Trinket came over the loud speaker in 6th grade saying that we needed to evacuate. Something horrible has happened at the World Trade Center. _

_"The World Trade Center! My parents are in there!" I yell._

_"Madge, please stay quiet. We need to get you all home, okay? You're parents will be just fine," Mr. Abernathy said. _

_Five hours later I got a call at Uncle Cinna's house saying that both of my parents had died on the 80th floor from a terrorist attack. _

"Princess?" I hear Finnick's voice.

I realize that I'm on the floor, curled up into a ball with Gale kneeling next to me. Everyone is standing around me.

"Princess what happened?" he asks again. I rub the tears from my cheeks and eyes and stand up.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"You don't look fine. We dancing then you just froze up and fell. What happened?" I wait until everyone else starts dancing again before I talk.

"I just had a flashback. I guess when I said I don't have much dirt I thought of it."

"Are you gonna tell me what happened?"

I stare at the ground. Do I trust him enough to tell him something that haunts me everyday? For some reason, I feel like I can tell him. Something about him...

"You can't tell anyone," I whisper.

"Promise," he says while wrapping his pinky around mine.

I laugh at his grade-school gesture. "When I was in 6th grade, on September 11, 2001, my parents were in the World Trade Center. On the 80th floor."

He frowns," I'm not gonna say I'm sorry, because there's nothing to do about it and you've probably heard it before, but I'm here if you need me. I'll tell you something that only one person here knows besides my family. When I was 11, my dad died in North Carolina in a mining accident. Same with Kat's dad. So it's just our mama's runnin' the place with Ray."

I nod and appreciate that he shared something personal with me.

"I think I'm going to go inside. Sorry, but I'm not really in the dancing mood," I say.

"Me either. We can go in the lodge."

We walk back into the Main Lodge and receive a few looks from some of the dancers. I plop down on the couch near the fireplace and lay down with my head on the armrest. Gale comes back with his guitar and starts to play a few tunes. Before I know it, I fall asleep with my feet in his lap and his last words before I sink into oblivion are _Hey there Delilah what's it like in New York City, I'm a thousand miles away but tonight you look so pretty..._


End file.
